SPEEDWAY — You can't sit in the stands for this weekend's Indy Racing League/NASCAR doubleheader at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but you will soon be able to visit the track's museum.
The museum, which features one of the world's top collection of race cars, will reopen on Tuesday, July 7, and IMS track tours resume on Monday, July 6.
Both the museum and tours shut down in March when the pandemic hit. With COVID-19 still a major threat, there will be health and safety requirements to visit the museum or go on the tour.
Masks are mandatory for all visitors age three and over in the museum building and tour buses, until masks are no longer recommended by the CDC. All staff are required to wear a mask in public areas, and IMS asks visitors to do their part. Please bring your own mask.
Health check: All visitors must first check in at the IMS Museum main entrance and undergo a quick, no-contact temperature check. Any guest registering a fever (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit/38 Celsius or higher) will be asked to leave, along with their party.
Temporary suspensions: For now, the museum will not accept cash, and the ATM is not available. A credit card or debit card must be used. Also, ticket “pass outs” are suspended, meaning visitors may not purchase a museum admission ticket, leave the museum and re-enter later that day.
Routine maintenance: Visitors are asked to observe social distancing protocols of six feet or more. Hand washing or hand sanitizer use is required before and after touching anything in the museum’s public spaces.
Vigilance: All museum staff are always required to wear masks in public areas, and they must undergo a temperature check and review and sign a health checklist each day. Museum staffers have installed plexiglass barriers in the lobby, nine hand sanitizing stations throughout the museum, and implemented an ongoing cleaning and sanitizing schedule for all public surfaces.
Capacity is restricted: A maximum of 100 guests will be permitted inside the museum at a time. No more than 20 guests are allowed on tour buses. Directional aisleways and additional spaces between exhibits have been created to maximize social distancing.
